Motown M 1001 (A), October 1959
(First pressing)
b/w Hold Me Tight
(Written by Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy)
(withdrawn from sale, October 1959)
Motown M 1001 (A), November 1959
Re-pressed April 1960
b/w Gotta Have Your Lovin’
(Second and third pressings with replacement B-side)
I never realised that this slow-baked chugging doo-wop ballad, an early Smokey/Gordy collaboration, had been recorded before the Miracles did their own version a couple of years later, but here’s the splendidly obscure Eugene Remus to prove me wrong.
This was Remus’ only Motown single, although it went through three distinct pressings, first swapping out the B-side and then replacing the A-side with a different version. Like the Satintones’ My Beloved, this one also comes in two distinct flavours, with and without strings, a result of Berry Gordy’s brief obsession with re-recording failed singles to cake them in layers of violins. The “with strings” version is again probably the preferable one of the two here, although the sound quality of the re-recorded version isn’t optimal as it’s one of the songs for which the compilers of The Complete Motown Singles: Part 1 couldn’t locate an original master, meaning it had to be dubbed from a 45rpm vinyl single.
Anyway. Remus is so obscure that even the liner notes don’t know who he is (“a good-looking guy who could sing and write; he just wandered in”, says Janie Bradford). This is a good song, played exceedingly softly in both versions, but Remus’ vocal delivery, while technically competent, is a bit odd; almost totally devoid of emotion, he enunciates each word a little too clearly, and pronounces a lot of things strangely (rendering the title as “til it’s gorne”, for instance) which is slightly off-putting.
Not remarkable in either version, and one of the weaker Motown singles to this point, it’s perhaps not surprising that Remus wasn’t given any more singles in the future – but it’s not awful, and like Wade Jones before him, it’s perhaps unfair to judge him on the strength of one record; it might have been nice to hear what else he had up his sleeve. He would never be given the opportunity.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
COVERWATCH
Motown Junkies has reviewed other Motown versions of this song:
- The Miracles (April 1962)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
(Or maybe you’re only interested in Eugene Remus? Click for more.)
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| The Satintones “Sugar Daddy” |
Eugene Remus “Hold Me Tight” |
Motown Junkies 
I’ve only heard The Miracles version which is okay, but Smokey lead is superb. I tried looking for this song and nothing came up. Interesting how noone really remembers this guy.
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This song to me is really good and it’s one of my favorite songs on Disc 1 on TCMS. Eugene Remus is a good singer I wonder if there is anymore information on him. Although I think the Miracles version is better Eugene does outstanding!! 🙂
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(if this post shows up twice, it’s through some sheer computer log in oddness)
Just got home from work and have been playing this (the without strings version) quite a few times in the car. I like it. A lot. I’ve got no issues with his laser-precise diction; I’ve heard more than a few singers who sang with this style- some better, some worse. Remus’s delivery goes down nice and smooth and to me it’s thoroughly enjoyable. I like the hushed tones of the musical accompaniment. It’s as if it’s in agreement with Remus’s chosen style of issuing a threat-to-vacate in a very understated, but very definite style.
Maybe one reason for no further Motown recordings is that Remus sounds very much like Brook Benton. There is never a need for someone who sounds like someone else. Especially when the “someone else” does it better than the someone who sounds like him. Still, for me, it’s a bit like that Smokey lyric in his song “The Composer”: it’s the number…UMM…25th song on my personal chart. It’s a 6 for me.
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It’s a typical excellent early Smokey Robinson Doo-Wop ballad, and sung decently by Eugene, who was not nearly as good a singer as Smokey. I’d give it a 4.4. 5 on a generous day, but mostly 4. Just like Wade Jones, despite seeing and hearing hundreds of Detroit and northwestern Ohio ’60s Soul records, I’ve never seen nor heard of another recording by him.
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